-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Sen. Ted Kennedy would have had a `` very , very difficult '' time politically surviving the drowning death of a young woman if it happened in the era of blogs , talk radio and 24-hour news cycles , experts said .

Sen. Ted Kennedy hit the airwaves to say it was `` indefensible '' he did n't immediately report the accident .

Mary Jo Kopechne , 28 , drowned after Kennedy drove his Oldsmobile off a bridge following a regatta party in July 1969 . The incident on Chappaquiddick Island , Massachusetts , helped dash the youngest Kennedy brother 's chances at the Oval Office in 1972 and 1980 .

Massachusetts was more forgiving than the rest of the nation , however , backing Kennedy by a 3-to-2 margin in his 1970 bid to keep his Senate seat . That his brothers , John and Robert , had been assassinated in recent years may have been a factor , experts said . Watch Kennedy attend brother Robert 's funeral ''

`` Great expectations and great tragedy has always been the storyline of the Kennedys , '' said Christopher Arterton , dean of George Washington University 's graduate school of political management . `` The people of Massachusetts were prepared to forgive a lot of transgressions . ''

Kennedy vanished to the family compound for days after the incident , huddling with advisers before emerging the following week to plead guilty to leaving the scene of an accident . A judge suspended his two-month jail sentence .

Critics saw the plea as an attempt to stifle details that would have emerged during a trial .

In a display of the senator 's legendary oratory , he delivered a nationally televised explanation and apology , saying it was `` indefensible '' that he had n't called police until the day after the accident . See how Chappaquiddick fit into Kennedy 's legacy ''

`` If at any time , the citizens of Massachusetts should lack confidence in their senator 's character or his ability , with or without justification , he could not in my opinion adequately perform his duty and should not continue in office , '' Kennedy said .

Jim Baughman , author of `` The Republic of Mass Culture : Journalism , Filmmaking , and Broadcasting in America since 1941 , '' said he recalls Kennedy 's address being `` less an explanation to the country than to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts . ''

The nation 's response was tepid . According to a Time-Harris poll in August 1969 , about 44 percent of respondents said Kennedy failed `` to tell the real truth , '' 51 percent said his explanation was inadequate and 77 percent said he was wrong not to report the accident immediately .

However , 58 percent of respondents said `` he has suffered , been punished and should be given the benefit of the doubt . '' Watch a timeline of Kennedy 's tragedies , triumphs ''

`` I think the national repercussions would have been more severe -LSB- today -RSB- , '' Baughman said .

In 1969 , the national media were dominated by three TV networks and a handful of magazines and newspapers . New media and talk radio would be a `` much more ferocious force '' today , he said .

Media reports from the time indicate few mysteries were solved by Kennedy 's address .

Then-Edgartown Police Chief Jim Arena was often lambasted for his handling of the case . He said Thursday he would handle it no differently today except that he would charge Kennedy with vehicular homicide , a charge that did not exist in 1969 .

`` I will always contend that what happened that night was an accident . What happened afterward has never been completely explained , '' said Arena , who is now 79 .

In his national address , Kennedy said he was driving Kopechne to a ferry landing because she was tired . He denied `` widely circulated suspicions of immoral conduct '' and also refuted reports that he was `` driving under the influence of liquor . '' Watch Kennedy 's explanation ''

Kennedy said his unfamiliarity with the bridge , which had no guardrails and met the road at an awkward angle , caused him to drive off the side and into Poucha Pond .

`` The car overturned in a deep pond and immediately filled with water , '' Kennedy said . `` Water entered my lungs and I actually felt the sensation of drowning , but somehow I struggled to the surface alive . ''

Kopechne did not . Kennedy said he dived back into the water several times , `` but succeeded only in increasing my state of utter exhaustion and alarm . ''

Conceding he did not seek a telephone , Kennedy said he returned to the party and summoned a cousin and friend to the scene . They , too , failed in saving Kopechne , he said .

`` All kinds of scrambled thoughts -- all of them confused , some of them irrational , many of them which I can not recall , and some of which I would not have seriously entertained under normal circumstances -- went through my mind during this period , '' he said .

He asked to be taken to the ferry slip , he said , where he jumped into the water , swam the 500-foot channel back to Edgartown , returned to his hotel room and collapsed .

It was n't until morning that he called police , and then , only after he called legal adviser Burke Marshall , he said .

The media clamored with questions : Why had Kopechne left her purse and room key at the cottage and told no one she was going home ? How did Kennedy get lost on a one-turn trip to the ferry ? Was the ferry operating when Kennedy and Kopechne left ?

`` The larger anger about it was the 10-hour lag -LSB- in reporting the accident -RSB- , that he was more concerned about his reputation than this young woman 's life , '' Baughman said . `` He did n't take enough time to blame himself and take responsibility . ''

Today , Baughman said , Kennedy could still survive a Chappaquiddick -- largely because of the Kennedys ' clout and because Massachusetts is so enamored with the family -- but it would be tougher with the Slate.coms and Drudge Reports of the world hounding him .

George Washington University 's Arterton concurs that , like Jesse Helms ' North Carolina or Strom Thurmond 's South Carolina , Massachusetts would likely forgive one of its favorite sons today .

If Kennedy survived his first re-election , as he did in 1970 , he likely would have prevailed in later ones , though it would have been `` very , very difficult to remain in office , '' Arterton said . He also doubts Kennedy would have been able to isolate himself with advisers for days without making a statement . Watch a newsreel of Kennedy 's early years ''

`` In the cable news era , that would not have been possible , '' he said , explaining that blogs and other new media would have prodded the networks and newspapers . `` There would have been much more effort to dig into that story nationally . ''

At the least , Baughman said , `` you 'd have maybe a more diverse conversation about Kennedy 's culpability and judgment . ''

Then-Chief Arena remembers the intense criticism of his investigation from his own counterparts .

Diver John Farrar , who pulled Kopechne from the car , told media outlets she may have lived had Kennedy called police immediately , and George Killen , a detective-lieutenant with the State Police , alleged at the time that Kennedy `` killed that girl the same as if he put a gun to her head and pulled the trigger . ''

Kennedy 's explanation was a `` weak defense , '' Arena acknowledges , but he insists there was no evidence of negligence to facilitate manslaughter charges .

Arena said the Kennedys never pressured him during the investigation . He also never obfuscated details to benefit Kennedy -- in part , because of a paternal adage he has always held dear .

`` When you tell the truth , you do n't have to worry about what you said the first time , '' he said . `` The charge I came up with was the only one I thought we could prove . ... I did what I could , and I 'll stick by it . ''

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Media `` more ferocious '' today , would n't have left questions unanswered , expert says

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Ex-police chief says he would have charged Kennedy with vehicular homicide today

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Chappaquiddick incident credited with ending Ted Kennedy 's presidential hopes

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Chief : `` What happened afterward has never been completely explained ''